The title of Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein's new book aptly sums up the atmosphere in Washington: "It's Even Worse Than it Looks."Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and Ornstein, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, spoke with Alex today and argued that the Republican party is largely to blame... read more

On Monday's installment of NOW, we discussed New York magazine writer Jonathan Chait's (excellent and very informative) article "The Legendary Paul Ryan." A lot has been said about the Ryan budget -- and, no doubt, a lot more will be said -- by folks on both sides of the aisle. While there remain many mysteries and unanswered... read more

Despite repeated promises to campaign until the bitter end, Newt Gingrich finally faced reality and decided to suspend his bid for the presidency. The race never did become a choice between "Newt and non-Newt," as Mr. Gingrich once believed it would, but that didn't stop him from capturing a large share of the spotlight. Take a... read more

Alec Baldwin came into 30 Rock last night to meet one Alex Wagner on the set of "The Last Word" in Studio 3K. His take on the GOP: "Things for these guys aren't going that well...they're getting scared." It only gets better from that point forward. read more

We invited Rick Tyler on the show today to help us bid farewell to Newt Gingrich, who is out with a goodbye YouTube that we posted just below. Sure, we've known Gingrich was out of the running for days now (a month, actually, according to a new National Review post out today). But this show had a special place in many of its rundowns for... read more

Occupy Wall Street protesters fanned out across the country today in a series of May Day rallies aimed at reinvigorating the movement, which went mostly into hibernation this past winter. So far, protesters have taken to the streets in New York, San Francisco, Chicago and dozens of other U.S. cities. There are reports of several arrests in New... read more

First Lady Michelle Obama is on a four-state trip out West, holding fundraisers and meeting with campaign volunteers in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. The President won three of those states in 2008, just losing to John McCain in the Senator's home state of Arizona. Two recent polls out of Arizona reflect the latest numbers from... read more

Today's Gallup poll has Mitt Romney up one point over Barack Obama in the general election match-up. To be fair, the two candidates have been very close in the Gallup poll, supplanting each other for the top spot fairly often. It's a good reminder that despite the rhetoric, this is going to be a close election - and a tough one... read more

One year ago today, people were celebrating at Ground Zero; today, Occupy Wall Street, based near Ground Zero, is pledging to make a mess of May Day.Magid CPI: Bin Laden: Romney Says He Would Have Ordered Bin Laden Killing; Hillary Clinton heads to China and into dissident drama; Hubble Telescope Marks 22nd Anniversary Of Launch Into Space... read more

Could Rep. Paul Ryan be the real leader of the Republican Party? New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait joins the NOW panel to discuss Rep. Ryan’s role in the conservative movement and whether or not Mitt Romney is just a pawn for the Party. watch

Mitt Romney and New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg met Tuesday morning – could this mean a Bloomberg endorsement soon? MSNBC’s Alex Wagner and the NOW panel discuss what a Bloomberg endorsement could mean for Romney. watch

Pulitzer Prize journalist David Wood of the Huffington Post and MSNBC’s Willie Geist join the NOW panel to talk about the American military’s next steps in Afghanistan a decade after 9/11 and one year after the death of Osama bin Laden. watch

Pages

NOW with Alex Wagner is an Emmy-nominated show that airs weekdays on MSNBC at 4pm ET. Alex and her NOWists give a fresh perspective on news stories and help audiences go deeper in understanding the news of the day. NOW is a political based program that covers politics, social issues, pop culture and entertainment as it relates to the fabric of our country and the world.